It’s interesting to read about what people in different countries/cultures find comfortable or uncomfortable. Here in the South, the only people who would ever think to kiss each other on the cheek are spouses or other romantic partners, parents/children, or grandparents/grandchildren. I would be totally taken aback if someone else tried to kiss me on the cheek. It just isn’t done and I have never seen it done. We are, however, big huggers.
In work situations? A firm handshake. Sometimes with friendly associates, a side hug.
I get confused more on the nuance- in some situations a touching of cheeks and an “air kiss” near the ear is done, in others it is a touching of cheeks and a deliberate turn of the head to kiss the cheek, and in social situations it sometimes slides to a casual and brief lip brush after the cheek-to-cheek touch. I can never gauge what is appropriate, and typically go for “I can probably get away with the ‘air kiss’ default.”
I’m so glad that mostly everyone I know goes with hugs…brief and to the side for friends, deep and hearty for those you consider family. And don’t ever try to kiss me unless you are my parent or my child.
We do business with an Italian distributor. Two air/cheek kisses, first to the left, then to the right. The first time I got it wrong and was corrected. For close friends, three. I know this because our distributor made a point of telling me when I was upgraded to three–left, right, left again.
For everyone else, I get my hand out there for a handshake as quickly as possible. I’m not a hugger.
This is off topic, but I thought someone here might be interested and able to explain this to me. Since the main discussion has come to a close anyway I don’t feel like I’m interrupting something.
In French, the space before a question mark. Is that currently used, and doing a Google search I found a very lengthy explanation of how large it should be relative to the space after the punctuation mark, etc. I studied French a good length of time for an American student and don’t remember learning anything about that space. I happened upon it accidentally once playing with a translation site. There’s no critical reason why I need to know this. I do not use French and have forgotten almost everything I learned, sigh, but I am curious and if someone wants to take the time I’d love to have a clearer understanding. Again, only if you have the time.
